Thursday, September 06, 2007
Dinner at Home
Fennel-Turnip Soup
A tasty, smooth, creamy soup without the use of starches or cream.
-4 turnips, roughly chopped
-2 small fennel bulbs, roughly chopped
-1/2 onion, roughly chopped
-4 garlic cloves, peeled
-4 cans chicken stock
-pepper to taste
Sautee onions in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add turnips, garlic and fennel and sautee a few more minutes. Add chicken stock and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until veggies are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender (or a regular blender or food processor). Strain though a fine seive and serve.
-2 small fennel bulbs, roughly chopped
-1/2 onion, roughly chopped
-4 garlic cloves, peeled
-4 cans chicken stock
-pepper to taste
Sautee onions in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add turnips, garlic and fennel and sautee a few more minutes. Add chicken stock and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until veggies are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender (or a regular blender or food processor). Strain though a fine seive and serve.
Spinach, Cucumber and Heirloom Tomato Salad
Several varieties of heirloom tomatoes give this salad beautiful color and flavor. The salad is dressed in a simple balsamic vinaigrette of one part each oil, balsamic vinegar and grainy mustard.
Spaghetti and Meatballs
We don't usually make such carb heavy food, but we had company. Alexis made one large batch of sauce and used it for this dish as well as for the lasagna below. To the sauce, she added sliced zuchinni.
Meatballs:
-1 lb ground turkey
-1 egg
-1 ts garlic powder
-1 ts salt
-1 ts pepper
-2 tb italian herbs
Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly with your hands and roll into balls with about 1" diameter. In a large sautee pan heat about 3 tb of cooking oil (not olive oil). Add all of the meatballs and pan-fry until done in the center and crispy on the outsides. Shake the pan often to turn the meatballs.
Add the meatballs and some thinly sliced zuchinni to the tomato sauce (recipe below) and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Ladle meatballs and sauce over al dente spaghetti.
-1 lb ground turkey
-1 egg
-1 ts garlic powder
-1 ts salt
-1 ts pepper
-2 tb italian herbs
Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly with your hands and roll into balls with about 1" diameter. In a large sautee pan heat about 3 tb of cooking oil (not olive oil). Add all of the meatballs and pan-fry until done in the center and crispy on the outsides. Shake the pan often to turn the meatballs.
Add the meatballs and some thinly sliced zuchinni to the tomato sauce (recipe below) and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Ladle meatballs and sauce over al dente spaghetti.
Zuchinni Lasagna
We love this dish because even though the "noodles" are made from zuchinni, you really don't feel like you are eating a "mock" lasagna, but a real one. Click here for a video demo of how to make zucchini "noodles".
Lasagna "Noodles":
Ricotta Mixture:
-2 cups fresh ricotta
-8 cloves garlic, minced
-2 handfuls fresh basil, finely chopped
Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
Meat:
-1 1/2 lbs ground turkey or beef
-1 large onion, minced
-salt and pepper to taste
Sautee onions and ground meat until browned and done.
Sauce:
-5 cans diced tomatoes
-1/2 onion, roughly chopped
-8 cloves garlic, peeled
-3 tb Italian seasoning
-1 handful fresh basil
-2 bay leaves
-salt and pepper to taste
Sautee the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil until beginning to brown. Add all of the other ingredients. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for about 25 minutes. Remove bay leaves and puree the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
Other ingredients:
-1 can black olives, drained and roughly chopped
-2 cups shredded mozzerella and 2 cups shredded cheddar or monterey jack, mixed together
-1 cup grated parmasan
Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 9x13 glass baking dish and layer the bottom with zuchinni noodles, slightly overlapping. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle about 1/2 cup sauce and spread over the zucchini. Layer half the meat and 1/3 of the cheeses. Add another layer or zucchini noodles. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the zuchinni noodles. Sprinkle all of the olive evenly over the ricotta mixture. Add another layer of zuchinni noodles and season with salt and pepper. Ladle about 1/2 cup sauce and spread over the zucchini. Layer the rest of the meat and 1/3 of the cheeses. Add a final layer of zuchinni noodles, season with salt and pepper and ladle about 1 cup of sauce over the zuchinni, spread evenly. Add the rest of the cheeses. Poke a few toothpicks in the top of the lasagna to prevent the foil from sticking to the top layer of cheese. Cover with foil and bake on 375 for about an hour. Remove the foil and bake for about 5 more minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbly. Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.
Labels: dinner recipes, fennel, homemade, Italian, salad, soup, spinach, turkey, turnip
# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 7:18 PM 
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